Abstract
In MTCMOS, the circuit state should be preserved for state retentive sleep, and the virtual power/ground rails clamp (VRC) scheme is an effective method for this purpose. Our approach realizes the voltage clamp function without additional devices like diodes, by feeding the virtual ground voltage back into a sleep signal. There are also other effects; cutting off the leak current of the sleep buffer, and charge recycling of sleep signal node. We have achieved a 19.7% lower power consumption and a 5.4% cell area reduction.
